Contractors Center Point provides value updates and information for the construction community as it relates to stimulus, green building and projects, current econominc data and conditions and overall financial and tax solutions for the construction community.

September 2013

09/30/2013

American Subcontractors Asspociation of Central Pennsylvania (ASACP) announced on Friday September 27th the hiring of Loni Warholic as its new Executive Director. Ms. Warholic will work directly with the Board of Directors on many initiatives and will be responsible for the daily operations of the chapter, including financial management, marketing communications, membership recruitment and retention and event planning and organization.

Ms. Warholic brings over a decade of experience in marketing, communications, sales and client service at Pavone, Sodexo and Pepsi and has earned a Bachelor's Degree in Business from PennState Worthington Scranton and an M.B.A. from Penn State Harrisburg.

ASACP will be holding a "Meet Loni" event on October 8th at 5:00 p.m. at Appalachian Brewing Company, 50 North Cameron Street, Harrisburg. To register for this event please contact ASACP at contactus@asacentralpa.com or by telephone at 232-2222. You can also contact the construction professionals of McKonly and Asbury, LLP to register for this event.

09/23/2013

Employers must provide current employees with information about health insurance exchanges established under the Affordable Care Act no later than Oct. 1, 2013, whether or not they provide health insurance to their employees. Employers also must provide the notice to each new hirewithin 14 days of the employee’s start date. The notice must:

Inform the employee of the existence of the Health Insurance Marketplace or Exchange,including a description of the services provided by the Marketplace, and the manner in which the employee may contact the Marketplace to request assistance.

If the employer plan’s share of the total allowed costs of benefits provided under the plan is less than 60 percent of such costs that the employee may be eligible for a premium tax credit under 36B of the Internal Revenue Code if the employee purchased a qualified health plan through the Marketplace.

If the employee purchases a qualified health plan through the Marketplace, the employee may lose the employer contribution (if any) to any health benefits plan offered by the employer and that all or a portion of such contribution may be excludable from income for Federal income tax purposes.

Employers may develop their own forms or use the forms provided by the U.S. Department of Labor for:

The notice must be in writing and in a manner calculated to be understood by the average employee. The notice must be provided by first class mail or provided electronically to those who typically have email access as part of their work environment. For additional guidance, see DOL Technical Release 2013-02.

09/16/2013

The construction industry’s jobless rate leveled off in August at 9.1%, the same as July’s rate, but improved from the August 2012 mark of 11.3%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported.

The BLS August employment numbers, released on Sept. 6, showed that construction’s jobs total last month also was flat, compared with July’s figure.

The August bright spots among construction sectors were residential specialty trade contractors, which gained 4,900 jobs, and heavy-civil engineering construction, which added 1,200.

All other segments posted job losses, led by non-residential building, which shed 3,300 last month.

Architectural and engineering services, which BLS lists separately from construction, lost 400 jobs in August, the second-straight monthly decline for that sector.

Ken Simonson, Associated General Contractors of America chief economist, said, "After a strong rebound in 2012, construction hiring and spending have been stuck in neutral through most of 2013." But he also said last month's construction jobless rate was the lowest August mark since 2008, which suggests experienced workers have left the business.

BLS reported that the overall U.S. unemployment rate edged downward to 7.3%, from July’s 7.4%, as the economy added 169,000 jobs.

Anirban Basu, Associated Builders and Contractors chief economist, said the August numbers were "somewhat disappointing," but added that they could prompt the Federal Reserve to slow down possible future tightening of the money supply.

Basu added, "That likely would help stabilize interest rates, an important ingredient if the nonresidential construction industry is to perform as well as expected next year."

09/09/2013

The following post has been reposted from an Employement Practice Alert issued by Barley Snyder on August 28, 2013. The post was written by : Jennifer L. Craighead, Esquire and Joshua L. Schwartz, Esquire of Barley Snyder. Both can be reached through the Barley Snyder website at www.barley.com.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) has taken the final step to implement controversial regulations regarding federal contractors’ hiring of veteran applicants and disabled applicants. These regulations significantly alter the metrics used by the OFCCP to determine federal contractor compliance with the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (VEVRAA) and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Sec. 503).

As reported previously, on July 31, 2013, the OFCCP submitted new proposed regulations implementing VEVRAA and Sec. 503 to the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) for approval. The OMB had 60 days to review the proposed regulations, but took less than a month. The regulations will take effect 180 days following publication, likely in early 2014.

In its announcement on August 27th, the OFCCP highlighted the following changes to existing law:

•Hiring Benchmarks, Utilization Goals, and Outreach. The final rules require federal contractors to establish annual “hiring benchmarks” for protected veterans, based on the national percentage of veterans in the civilian labor force or other data collected nationally or locally. The applicable data will be posted in the “Benchmark Database.” Similarly, the final rules provide an across-the-board seven percent (7%) utilization goal for individuals with disabilities. Hand-in-hand with these goals are specific outreach, posting, and recruitment requirements, as well as new electronic postingrequirements about employee rights and employer obligations. It is important to note that the hiring benchmarks apply across the entire workforce rather than to each individual job group. Furthermore, the benchmarks are not quotas, but rather a yardstick to measure the effectiveness of federal contractors’ outreach and recruitment efforts for veterans and the disabled.

•Increased data collection and record-keeping requirements. Federal contractors and subcontractors will be required to document, maintain, and update documents and calculations annually regarding veterans and individuals with disabilities, such as referral data, applicant and hiring data, physical and mental job qualification requirements, and job fill ratios. This data must be maintained for three years and will be used during audits to spot trends.

•Changes to the current self-identification process. When an applicant is considered for employment, as well as at the post-offer stage, federal contractors are required to invite individuals to voluntarily self-identify as a veteran or an individual with a disability. The regulations includesample invitations that federal contractors may use. The regulations implementing Sec. 503 also require employers to invite existing employees to self-identify as disabled every five years using prescribed language. Although ordinarily employers cannot invite applicants to self-identify as disabled before a job offer is made without running afoul of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the new regulations require federal contractors to do so. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) appears to have concurred with the OFCCP on this issue, stating that federal contractors may invite applicants to voluntarily self-identify, so long as the questionnaire clarifies that the information is used solely in connection with the federal contractor’s affirmative action obligations and indicates the information will be kept confidential in accordance with the ADA.

• Records access. Federal contractors must permit the OFCCP to review documents, either on-site or off-site, upon the agency’s request. Federal contractors must provide these documents in whichever format the OFCCP requests, provided the federal contractor already maintains the documents in that format.

• Job listings. Federal contractors must provide job listing information in a manner and format permitted by the appropriate state or local job service for veterans, so that the service can access and use the information to make the job listings available to job seekers.

• Required language in subcontracts. The rules require specific language to be incorporated into the equal opportunity clause of subcontracts, so that subcontractors are aware of their responsibilities under VEVRAA and Sec. 503.

• ADAAA consistency/accommodation requests. The new regulations seek consistency with the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendment Act of 2008 by expanding the scope of “disability” to the same extent as that statute.

As noted above, the final rules go into effect 180 days from publication. Barley Snyder will hold a free webinar in late September/early October to discuss each of the significant rule changes in more detail. The attorneys and paralegals in Barley Snyder’s Employment Law Group have years ofexperience assisting clients with creating Affirmative Action Plans, comprehensive self-audits, and compliance with OFCCP requests.

09/03/2013

The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) saw a jump of more than a full point last month, indicating acceleration in the growth of design activity nationally. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lead time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the July ABI score was 52.7, up from a mark of 51.6 in June. This score reflects an increase in demand for design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). The new projects inquiry index was 66.7, up dramatically from the reading of 62.6 the previous month.

“There continues to be encouraging signs that the design and construction industry continues to improve,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. “But we also hear a wide mix of business conditions all over the country, ranging from outstanding and booming to slowly improving to flat. In fact, plenty of architecture firms are reporting very weak business conditions as well, so it is premature to declare the entire sector has entered an expansion phase.”